"Smoke and Retribution" [ft. Vince Staples and Kučka]

Most of Australian producer Flume's 2013 debut honed in on the downtempo side of electronic music—he worked through the house-inflected gold mine Disclosure tapped into that year, siphoning it into airy, complex arrangements. “Smoke and Retribution,” off the producer’s upcoming LP Skin, is a diametric opposite: It’s clattering, aggressive, and static-choked, the kind of big electro track that seems custom made for dark, secluded warehouse raves instead of study playlists. “Smoke”’s main draw comes from Vince Staples, fresh off Summertime '06’s success, whose nimble rapping amps up the song's pulse into hyperspeed. Flume also recruits Australian singer Kučka for a calmer chorus, just before Staples and the arsenal of shuddering beats come back to bring everything to the ground. Flume may not be reinventing rafter-shaking electro here, but he does give it a thrilling makeover.